Software
Review of: |
 Now
that I’ve gotten a digital camera, I’m beginning to take pictures of all
sorts of things. I am collecting nature pictures, particularly of South
Texas, as well as photos of families and friends. It is especially gratifying
to be able to send the fruit of my labors to someone I care about. However,
it would be really neat to be able to group a series of pictures together
into one and then email it to someone. It would be especially nice to do
that with beautiful scenery to get a wide-angle effect. I would also like
to be able to put a group of family members together from isolated pictures
so as to make a family collage. Unfortunately, the learning curve with
much of the graphical software is steeper than I want to climb. Therefore,
I have not attempted to put a series of pictures together to make one photograph.
Not until now, that is.
Enter ArcSoft Panorama Maker 2000. While it is not a full-fledged, robust, take no prisoners graphical program, it does enable someone like myself to take a series of photographs and stitch them together into a single panoramic picture – with almost no effort at all! In fact, the hardest part of this task was selecting the right photographs to stitch together. Granted, my first effort was nothing to write home about, but I was successful. Let me share how easy it was. Having opened Panorama 2000, there are several options as to how your pictures will be organized (horizontal, vertical, 360 degrees, and tile). Once one of these is chosen, you may then determine the lens you want (automatic, 14-75 mm, and telephoto). Next choose the output image size (small, medium, or large). Then click on “next” and you are on your way! At this point you are ready to assemble your pictures from a CD-ROM, hard drive, or TWAIN-compliant device such as a scanner. ArcSoft includes a sample number of ready-made photos to get you going. I chose a bunch of pictures I had taken of special people and chose to tile them. The result was interesting. By changing the order of the photographs, the picture will turn out differently. Panorama Maker 2000 also allows you to change the brightness and contrast to be sure you get a clear picture. You can even change the orientation of the pictures you have grouped together so that they appear upside down or sideways. Once the picture has been massaged to your satisfaction, it is time to print. It printed out beautifully on my Canon 8200 inkjet printer. Panoramic pictures can be printed on a single page, multiple pages, or z-fold banner paper. After I had finished my project, I wondered what I could do to make it better. Since I am new to this, I didn’t have a clue as to how to take photographs that would look good in a panorama. Anticipating my inexperience, and wanting to insure customer satisfaction, ArcSoft offers this bit of advice to insure a good panoramic picture: “The key to creating a quality panoramic shot is having a steady camera and plenty of overlap. When taking pictures that you intend to make into a panorama, stay stationary and use a tripod. Make sure that the shots that you take overlap at least by 25%. This will provide ample reference points for the program when it generates the panorama.” I’ll keep that in mind as I take future digital pictures. What does it take to run Panorama 2000? Perhaps less than you think. Although I reviewed this product on a AMD 600 processor with 380 MB of RAM and a 32 MB video card, you can get by on much less. All you need is any Pentium-based system (or the equivalent), 64 MB of RAM, and a 16 bit video card and you are in business. Of course, you will need a CD-ROM and mouse, but these days that goes without saying. Although I reviewed it under Windows 98, it works on systems with Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows NT as well. Mac users also have a version that requires MAC OS 7.5 ~ 9.1. Panorama 2000 is available directly from ArcSoft for $29.99. ArcSoftI highly recommend this product.
Tim Hoke is the minister of Faith Presbyterian Church in San Antonio and is a long-time member of Alamo PC. He has served on the board of directors in various capacities. Presently, Tim is product review coordinator. |